Greetings from 77002: Video Walkthrough of Room 400, StARTup Art Fair, Houston

There's a great video interview posted on Facebook shot by Ray Beldner, the fair director (which I don't know how to post anywhere besides Facebook. Sorry. It was one of those Facebook Live things).

Greetings from 77002: Setting up my StARTup Houston Show

The concept of the StARTup Art Fair is this: it's a pop-up takeover of floors of a hotel. Each artist (or group) has a room to make over into their exhibition space (without damaging the walls).
I walked the Venice CA edition last February, and wrote about it here.

Here is my process of redecorating room 400 at the Hotel Icon in Houston.

Room 400 before.

The hallway before.

Those cow prints did NOT want to be removed.

The cow print hanging hardware that I had to work with

Preliminary #dailytrucks hung on existing hardware.
More trucks piled on the orange chair.

Took a break from the trucks to work on hanging the On the Edge pieces in the hallway.

Getting the north edge images hung (left side of hallway).

Southern edge.
My "Eureka!" moment with the blue tape. Better than sticky notes.
This was the most mathematically challenging wall to hang.
The center piece was 5x7", the rest were 4x6".

Southern edge completed.

I installed the eastern edge vertically in the arch of the entryway and the closet door.

I placed the western edge (only had two pieces), random other pieces, and the road trip journal
in a nicely lit niche where the coffeemaker had been.

At this point, Danielle Grant came by to help curate. I was in somewhat of a quandary over how to display the trucks and she gave me some helpful tips. We also discussed the lack of lighting in the hallway.

Trucks randomly hung on existing hardware.

On the walls by the bed, filled in the space keeping the same rhythm
and extended a line to the left over the bedside table.
Took the $25 prints off the bed (too messy) and had a "secret drawer" for them in the bureau.

On the big wall, Danielle suggested "embrace some chaos" vs keeping to a strict rhythm.
I loved this suggestion and it made hanging MUCH easier! No more hanging math!

Room 400 ready to show. I then sat in the chair and took a nap.

The next post will be a video walkthrough.

On the Edge Goes to Houston

Woohoo! I was accepted into the stARTup Houston Art Fair!
October 11-13
Hotel Icon
220 Main Street, Houston, TX 77002

I AM SO EXCITED!

I'll be showing new On the Edge prints along with Daily Trucks.
More details as I get them!

The concept of the stARTup Art Fair is: artists do a takeover of floors of a hotel. Each artist gets a room and redecorates it with their art. Here is a link to my post about stARTup LA, which I visited last February.

Is this my room?

On the Edge Travels East

33 Edge images made the journey to Troy, NY and only 21 returned to LA.

I mailed the pieces to my first East Coast destination, Providence. Through a nerve-wracking series of delivery misses, I obtained the box at the post office the day that I left Providence. [Next time, I think I'll pay the airline's extra luggage fee -- it would have been cheaper and less stressful.]

The "exhibit" at my high school reunion was a one-night deal in a tent (and the usual exhibition space in the hall of the library/arts building stood empty the entire weekend. Grrrr). I had previously tested the "lots of small aluminum art pieces mounted on foam core" concept at the Beverly Hills Art Show, and knew that would work well for the tent situation. I picked up foam core at Michael's en route to Vermont (my next destination) and went my merry way.

Annie's place in Vermont has an amazing woodworking workshop and it was the ideal location to get everything laid out and mounted.

So glad that I created the image/price list and had a hard copy!
Made it easy to line up everything in the proper order.

Done. Next stop, Troy.

In the tent, first sales!

Transporting the art in a golf cart to my dorm at the end of the evening's event.

Our dorm had a lounge area for our class to congregate and I displayed the art there.

What remained at the end of reunion weekend.
BIG THANKS to my collectors Carla, Mina, Annie, and Libby!

There remained one more stop for the art before returning to LA, and that was my mom's in Barneveld, NY. She and my aunt bought three more, bringing my total sales to 12.

Now they're for sale on Poshmark [or email inquiries to me directly].
There are still 8 pieces "visiting" Joshua Tree. Maybe I'll do a little road trip to gather them!

#myshittycommute Art Show Opens Tonight

Saturday, April 2, 6-9pm.
Show runs until April 30

SPACE CLAREMONT
254 West Bonita Ave
Claremont, CA 91711Tu-Sat, 12-6pm

Meanwhile, peruse the book:

#myshittycommute

By anne m bray

Or visit the trucks on Tumblr, I am still adding to the collection.
The most recent addition, from yesterday:

Hope to see you in Claremont tonight!

#myshittycommute at SPACE CLAREMONT

Twenty truck images will be on view at SPACE CLAREMONT during April.

#myshittycommute
April 2-30, 2016

SPACE CLAREMONT 
254 West Bonita Ave 
Claremont, CA  91711

Opening Saturday, April 2, during Claremont's ArtWalk

A-Z Challenge Accepted and Met

The April A-Z Challenge was a wild ride, to be sure.
The best part? Getting 26 new pieces done for my "Southwest Sojourn" show at TAG Gallery.
The worst part? Getting those 26 pieces done in a timely manner!

Mid-February, I was considering showing all older pastels for my April-May show at TAG Gallery.
Then a post by Thrift Shop Commando reminded me of the A-Z Challenge and over the course of several mornings' commutes, my concept gelled.

I feel a good sense of accomplishment over getting the new work done and creating blog posts with some of the stories behind the images. Having to work super-fast on the digital paintings kept my technique loose.

As far as the part of the A-Z Challenge where one reads and comments on as many blogs as possible, I failed utterly. For one, the list of 1516 blogs is daunting.
Second, it's all a hodge podge and very hit or miss. Better would be separate link-up sections for genres, so at least all the travel-themed blogs would be together. A "wild card" category could be included, for those that don't want to pigeonhole themselves.  All the linkups could and should still be on one page.
Third, I was way too busy with the day job, the art show, and the other A-Z posting that I was doing on my fashion blog SpyGirl. The A-Z links are all still up, however, so I will be able to explore at my leisure. Yay.

Taking the A-to-Z Challenge

What started as a notion to help get posts here going on a more regular basis, the Blogging from A to Z challenge, has now morphed into a body of new work for my upcoming exhibition at TAG Gallery.
My show is titled Southwestern Sojourn.

I've been brainstorming during #myshittycommute

I've been making a list

What the heck do I use for "X"? Ideas anyone?

I've been scouring photos albums both virtual and analog for images

I've been digitally painting

I've started sending out files for printing on canvas

The new series will be Southwest A to Z, digital paintings printed on 6x6" canvases.
("6x6 for Route 66" -- genius reason provided by Adam Marsland).

Are you feeling stumped creatively? The simple prompt "A to Z" really got my motor revved!

Bloggers, sign up here for Blogging A to Z here! (900+ blogs listed so far!)

Redefining the Edge

I've made the executive decision that ANY road trip takes me to The Edge.

Anne M Bray, Dawn: Reeves County, TX, Oil on canvas, 24 x 48"  ©2001 

I'm having another exhibition at TAG Gallery, entitled Southwest Sojourn.
The show runs
April 21 - May 16, 2015. 
Opening Reception: Saturday, April 25, 5-8pm 
Artists' Talk: Saturday, May 9, 3pm
TAG is located at D3, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica

I wrote my Artist Statement about the work this morning. Here it is:

Southwest Sojourn

The greater Southwest has been a huge inspiration for my roadscapes (landscapes involving roads) that I’ve been working on for more than twenty years. I have driven all over the US, and images that I photograph in the Southwest spark my creative juices like no other region. I think it’s the stark beauty of sky and earth stripped down to their core elements that pulls my soul.

On a quirkier note, there is a lot of unusual roadside business that happens in the Southwest. Route 66 [supplanted by I-40] and I-10 are the two chief arteries for passing through. As every seasoned roadtripper knows, Route 66 is a great source of vintage visual wealth: funky old signage, souvenir shops, ageing motels. I revisit some of these spots in my “Southwest A to Z” series, comprised of 6x6” digital paintings representing every letter of the alphabet.

I’ve driven there so that you don’t have to. My roadscapes are a celebration of fleeting moments frozen in time. Urban, rural, and the roads in-between -- I share with the viewer windows for contemplation.

2015

Anne M Bray, C is for Coffee Tanker, AZ, Digital painting on canvas, 6 x 6" limited edition of 10,  ©2011 

Greetings from 92262

45 Waterlogues have taken a road trip to Palm Springs.
They're currently at a rest stop in TAG Gallery's Booth 111 at the Palm Springs Fine Art Fair, through Sunday, Feb 15, 6pm.

Hoping that they all find new homes!

Free tickets are still available online here. ($15 at the door).

Greetings from 90404

The show is hung!

TAG Gallery, Bergamot Sta. 2525 Michigan, Santa Monica, CA.

Reception is Saturday, June 21, 5-8pm. 

53 Edge Waterlogues Now Online

These are the "greatest hits" that I printed on aluminum for my show at TAG Gallery.
The show opens June 17th, with a reception on Saturday, June 21, 5-8pm.
There will be an art talk on Saturday, June 28, 3pm.

Images can be previewed on my art website here.

First Samples of Prints on Metal

CREATED/ LINKS/ 

[This is a reprint of my first update over on my IndieGoGo campaign, with some modifications]

Big "Thank you" to everyone that has contributed!  You are all on the "AAA" list!

First samples came in for the Pilot perk!
The Pilot is a digital watercolor printed on aluminum.
It will come with a flush mounted frame.

I got a sample pack from Bay Photo of the four possible finishes. I added float mounts to them, since the flush mounted frames weren't available for that size.

The final will have more white space around the image, I was limited to 4x6" for the special sampling deal. Going with the Satin finish (bottom left). Next I'll get an actual size (5x7") sample with the proper frame. So far, really happy with the quality.

I have to thank my fellow TAG Gallery artist Christo Brock for the concept of printing images on metal. It's a great alternative to "paper under glass".

I'll be using this format for my TAG show in June.